Barto Spring, Barto, Pennsylvania, 19504

14 people follow this spring.
Directions:

The Barto Spring is located by the Barto Bridge that crosses over the West Branch of the Perkiomen Creek.

Barto is located between the boroughs of Bally and Bechtelsville in
Washington Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Barto is part of the
Delaware Valley, located near the border of Montgomery County.

Additional links:
http://www.nutritionalupgrade.com/2/post/2012/11/adventure-with-dad-collecting-spring-water.html
http://youtu.be/Lnar9xGCHPA
http://www.nutritionalupgrade.com/2/post/2012/11/adventure-with-dad-collecting-spring-water.html

This spring gets checked by the township every few months to make sure there is no contamination. If you have any questions, you can call
Washington Township
120 Barto Road
Barto, Pa 19504
(610) 845-7760
email: info@washtwpberks.org
website: http://www.washtwpberks.org

Responses

  1. Wow!! Im so sorry eveyone i completely for got to update about this spring!!.. Ok so ive been steadily using this spring for about a month now!… I gotta say its pretty sweet!!!… Ive cleaned it up as much as possible on my visits there…if anyones been there in the past ull remember all those loading stock wood planks were all piled up on the side like people were just using it for a dump site so ive laid them all out nice and orderly to make more of a walk way…and placed the ones that were too busted and rotted as neatly as i could to the side…and that little bit i did has already made a big difference!!.. So every lil bit counts!!.. As for the water its super cold and super clean!!.. When i tested it a month ago the PH was 6.2 and the TDS was 92.. So its AWSOME water!!… As far as having it tested there has been people there getting the water almost everytime ive been there and one old guy said hes been using this spring for over 50 years without problem and another lady said in her town the tapwater was so contaminated that they had no choice but to use this spring and so she said she had it tested and it was very clean but the most promising news was from another elderly gentleman who said hes been using it since the 70s and he knows the owner of the land and that he has it tested every few months and he said the results are perfect!!.. So i will continue to use this spring as long as its there and available!! I hope this helps everyones decision to come use this spring and to help me and my son to preserve it and keep it clean!!

    1. Hello Josh. I have been at this spring 3 times. The water is nice cold and it taste great! Any recent updates on the water? I’m often scared because I don’t know if the water is contaminated. But so far so issue’s. Someone at Barto had said that the water is not for drinking:/ idk why they would say that. Just wondering if anyone has run any test recently ?

  2. Hi. I drove a little over an hour to this spring to get water. At first I thought, Oh no, I drove all this way and don’t see it. After going over the bridge, it is right there on your left, but I didn’t see it until I turned around at the first house down the road and came back, and there and behold was the spring with the pipe coming out of the hillside. I didn’t see any signs up listing water quality test.

    I have 30 plastic water jugs and it didn’t take too long to fill them (about an hour?). The water is crystal clear. It doesn’t have as much flavor as I had hoped, but I’m so glad to have fresh water directly from Mother Earth. It’s like gold 🙂 I’ve been drinking the water for a week now and haven’t had any digestive problems at all. I have a compromised immune system, so if anyone would pick up a bug from the water, it would be me 🙂

    Josh, I can’t thank you enough for laying down the wood planks. It makes it so easy to walk right up to the spring without getting muddy. It was a rainy day when I went there.

    The only downside is that the local road is pretty busy. Even on a Monday afternoon in the rain, cars and trucks were constantly going by. I tried to be as inconspicuous and friendly as possible when someone did look over to me. I guess what I’m trying to say is I hope the local folks don’t complain. I think if anytime any of us go, to please pick up any trash even remotely near the spring. Again, thank you Josh!! Scott (Germantown, PA)

  3. hey everyone! sorry I really haven’t checked this site in awhile—I keep getting lost in the world!—so in my absence from posting here I have still been using this spring—this is THE ONLY WATER I consume in my life now!!—I drink it and use it for all my cooking needs–it truly is the best water ive come by sofar!—im still meeting people there all the time–over the past few times I went I met SHMUEL who is just an AWESOME guy!! very kool dude—very outgoing and easy to talk to!!–it was a pleasure to meet him and we shared a great conversation about health! I also had the pleasure of meeting SARN’s father Terry—another warm -hearted guy who I enjoyed a nice conversation with!–he was there with his wife filling up 19 5gallon buckets!!–WOW!!–what a trooper!!!—the spring is flowing nicely right now so its pretty quick to fill up the buckets but once it hits mid summer filling 19 buckets might take like 4-5 hrs!–good luck on that one!—ive also met the owner and he said he has recently had it tested and when he gets the results bac he said he might post a sign next to the spring displaying the results so that would be AWESOME!—so there it is!—I invite and encourage everyone to come use this special resource!–its DEFINITELY WORTH IT!! hopefully I get the chance to meet all of you at some point!–c ya there!

    1. Josh, are you still drinking and driving down here this water??? Wondering if you still love it as much as you did before? I just tried it and its gooooood.. I do notice some dirt in the bottom of my cup when I am almost finished but a little dirt never hurt ;). I also have noticed that the first pallet or two could use some replacing and everytime I go I completely forget to grab a pallet from the beer distributor by my hous (they always have them out by the street for trash and/or taking)… hopefully one of these days I rememeber to bring one with me and I’ll replace the two that are there and seeming a bit weathered. Happy Natrual Springing!

  4. Wow! This water is soooo good! Hopefully I see you there one day Josh… You and your son sound like such great people : ) Wild greens & herbs are the best, what I live on during summer.
    Does it really slow down that much in the summer? We fill up 20 5 gallon containers, which right now is taking about 4-6 mins per bucket… so a little over an hr. I can’t imagine spending over 4hrs though to get our water, but one must do what he must I guess.. I’ll try to go after hard rains and see how it fairs. Take care and Much Luv to all water harvesters : )

  5. Hi….if anyones interested in this spring im taking a trip up there probably sometime this coming weekend with my 6 y/o autistic son..we live about a hour and a 1/2 away from it but we are hoping its a good clean spring that we can use for our steady water supply because it is the closest one anywhere near us!!… I will post the ph and tds readings asap when i get bac home and assuming that everything is good with this spring we will return regularly to build up the area of the spring site to help preserve and protect it!…we encourage all and anyone interested to come and use this spring and to help us clean it up and build it up to a more accomidating spring foragers sanctuary…everytime we go i will be bringing something to make it nicer…mabe some cool statues or exotic looking rocks or mabe make some sort of make shift seats or a bench or anything to just build up around the spring just to let people know that its a special place that needs to be protected for us and future children!!… Thanks for anyone who cares to help me and my son to protect this precious natural resource!

  6. Hi! Jenna here. Just stopped at the spring with my partner and collected 15 gallons. Water tastes pretty good, I tried some before filling up our bottles. The walkway could use another pallet or two if anyone sees this and is able to bring one out. I’m not sure if the owners of the property tend to that – I did notice it’s on private property.

    Also the coordinates on the website for this are not accurate, the address is :
    2346-2444 Old State Hwy 100, Barto, PA 19504 and that will take you directly there.

  7. I have been going for almost 40 years and I never had an issue until last week. There was dirt in my water and I wasn’t sure how. I then saw a snake come out of the pipe!!! I’m guessing it got in the metal lid just above where the pipe comes out the wall.

  8. Please note that the information posted here that the spring is regularly sampled by Washington Township is totally false. Washington Township has never sampled the spring and as it is located on private property has no authority to sample the spring. Feel free to contact the Township to confirm.

  9. Hi all, I visited this spring today. I was just wondering if anyone knows if this spring actually gets tested and is okay to drink. I attempted to test myself but the kit I got gave invalid results. Thankyou!!

  10. i just went today and it was lovely! i was in allentown and always wanted to go. the water is amazing! the drive there was very pretty with the fall foliage, will definitely be returning!

  11. Mark saw my post and replied. He wasn’t able to do it from his own account. Therefore I copied and pasted it here for your information.

    Mark replied:
    I saw your comment on findaspring.com. Just wanted to send you a note that i collected water from Barto Spring on 3/19, and tested with a home drinking water test kit. It was negative for bacteria, pesticides, and lead, and everything else came back in normal range as well. I know it’s not a professional test, but thought you’d like to know. I tried to post a comment on the spring page but looks like it hasn’t been approved yet.

  12. I collected about 40 gallons at Barto Spring today. Flowing much better than the last time I visited. Got the following results with a home water test kit. Nitrate between 2.0-5.0, Nitrite negative, pH ~7, Hardness ~120ppm, Chlorine negative, pesticides negative, and lead negative. In 48 hours I’ll have results of the bacteria test, so far the solution is purple (negative).

  13. I visited this spring earlier this month and collected 10 gallons. I tested the TDS and pH using a liquid test after I got home. The pH measured 7, and my TDS meter showed 71 ppm.

  14. Hey guys,

    went to get my water today and made a few observations.
    1. two people stopped their car in order to ask me wether or not if the water was tested. They seemed concerned because something happened a few years ago regarding some contamination by a company called “Texas” something. I got two comments from people who seemed to live near by. The one guy told me that his own well is also contaminated and he doesn’t use it any more. I think this all happened years ago.
    2. I called the Barto township office on 120 Barto Road (mentioned here for water testing) and the lady told me there wasn’t such thing that anyone was testing water or for that matter the spring itself.

    Now. Does anyone have any information? Any REAL data on this spring being tested?
    Josh mentioned that the owner was hopefully testing it. But if he is not using the spring for himself I doubt that he is testing it for US users.

    I would like to test the water myself. What are the necessary steps?

    Any really recent info would be helpful. I don’t want to put my family in jeopardy with questionable water.

  15. I visited the spring on 11/22, the flow is very slow and the water had a stronger taste than normal. It took about 10 minutes to fill half a gallon. I plan to stop back again in a few weeks and will update.

  16. Yea everyone ive been steadily using this water since my very 1rst post! Even though its and hr and a half drive both ways for us its definitely worth it!!! I meet people there all the time who swear by this water and have been drinking it as long as they can remember!… I go about every 2 weeks and fill seven 5 gallon glass carboy jugs… The water comes out at a pretty decent speed right now since its gotten cold out and it only takes me like 35-40 mins to fill the 7 jugs but in the summer it takes me 2 hrs to fill all 7 so yea in the summer its a long day to do this…3 hrs driving time + 2 hrs to fill the jugs but its still a good adventure for me and my son cause while the jugs fill he has a blast exploring the woods above the spring plus this spring im gonna plant a bunch of wild edible greens all around that area in hopes of trying to teach my son to forage for wild foods!.. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as us!!

  17. Hey Thank you so much Josh, my friend! : )
    We’re going to make the hr drive here and I’m so glad that I know the quality before hand, and is such great news of how clean it sounds… As I needed to find a new spring since recently my other spring just tested for bacteria, and my family can’t live without living water -we’ll sacrifice on our food if we must, but not our water.

    1. Are you without a home that you must acquire water via a spring? If so, we can set up a donation page for you and your family to help you all out. It’s cold out this time of year and no family should be stuck in such a rut.

  18. Hey Josh just wanted to say thanks for verifying the quality of this water! this definitely motivates me to check this one out even though it might be a long drive it sounds like its worth it. cant wait to try it

  19. any updates on the cleanliness of this spring? it’s close to us and I’ve known about it for a while, but I’m concerned about the Bally water contamination from the old case and cooler (refrigeration contaminates) affecting it. any thoughts? thanks!

    1. I lived in Bally when there was a problem and it is reported that the problem is gone. When I lived there I used this water. It was wonderful. now that I am in the area again, I will use it again.

  20. Is anyone drinking this water? It has a really good taste but I worry it could be contaminated. I called the township and they said not to drink it because it is not tested.

    1. Josh,
      So how did you make out? Whats the status on the water? I will help clean the place up. Any suggestions of what I can do to improve the area?

  21. I called Washington township yesterday, August 19, 2013. The person I spoke with said that they are not responsible for checking the water. Since it is located on a state road, the State would check it and to contact the DEP for verification of the safety.

How to Collect Spring Water

Drinking pure spring water is one of the most important things we can do for our health. Our bodies are over 99% water at the molecular level, so water affects every aspect of our biology. Yet, not all water is created equal. Almost all the bottled spring water available is pasteurized for shelf stability, which neutralizes many of the powerful health benefits such as increased hydrogen, healthy probiotics, and crystalline structure. For more about why unprocessed spring water is the best water to drink, read this.

The best way to guarantee you are getting real unprocessed spring water is to collect it yourself. This is a short and simple guide filled with information about how to gather spring water. We will cover how to find a spring, how to collect the water, how to honor the spring, how to store the water properly and other tips.

FindASpring.org is the best resource for locating a spring near you. However, not all springs are on the map. First, check the map to see if there is a spring in your local area. If there is, look at the reviews and comments. Has anyone shared helpful information about flow rate or posted a water test result? Is the spring in a pristine area? Do a bit of research and make sure the spring is safe to drink from. If you have any doubt about the purity, don’t risk it and get a water test, HERE. If you don’t see a spring on the map in your area, there still might be some that aren’t listed yet. First, ask the older generation who have lived in your area a long time if they know. You can also ask people in your community who might already get spring water such as people at a health food store or at a farmers market. Another great option is to view A US forest service map, where many springs have been marked. You can view these maps through the Gaia GPS or All Trails hiking apps on your phone. The map overlay you want is USGS Topo. Not all are easily accessible or ideal for drinking, but some are and it can be a fun adventure to find them. We have found over half a dozen great springs this way.

Once you’ve found your spring, figure out how you are going to gather the water. Is it right on the side of the road and easy to access or do you have to hike to it? We recommend storing spring water in glass instead of plastic to preserve the purity of the water. It is better for the environment, your body, and the water. Even BPA free plastic has toxic chemicals that can leach into water and cause health issues. If you do want to use plastic for safety reasons when filling at the spring, we recommend transferring the water to glass as soon as possible. FindASpring is sponsored by Alive Waters, which offers beautiful reusable glass. They have a 2.5 gallon option, which is a convenient size for carrying that isn’t too heavy. They also sell handles that you can use to transport the jugs even more easily. If you have to hike to access the spring, we recommend putting the water jugs into an extra large backpack to hike the water out with ease. We use Osprey packs that hold 2 jugs each. You can also use a wheelbarrow or even a stroller depending on how easy a walk it is.

Filling 2.5 Gallon Alive Waters Jug

When you get to the spring, remember to first give back before you take. Springs are considered sacred in indigenous cultures around the world for their life giving water and also as a connection to the inner earth. A powerful and simple way to give back is to clean up. Is there any trash that needs to be collected? Could you move any dead leaves or sticks to improve the flow rate? Show up in service. Some other wonderful ways to give is with a moment of expressing verbal gratitude, singing songs to the water, offering the water an ethically sourced crystal, a feather, or some other physical gift. Flowers are a popular and beautiful thing to offer, but please be careful to source organic ones as most flowers from the store are sprayed with pesticides and can be toxic to put near a spring. Also, flowers can attract bugs as they decay, so it can be best to offer them to the flowing water directly or a little downstream from the spring head.

When gathering the water, fill the jug as close to the spring head as possible, never gather downstream. Be very careful as wet glass is extremely slippery. Make sure the lid is securely fastened. When transporting the spring water home, the jugs can sometimes slide around the car. Secure them in place or wrap them with towels or something so they don’t crash into each other.

How you store your spring water is essential. It is not pasteurized like spring water from the store, so it will start growing algae if left in direct sunlight. This is good because it means it’s alive! If the water you drink can’t even support the most basic life forms, how do you think it will support your body? Store your water in a cool, dark place such as a dark corner, pantry or closet. The fridge is ideal if you have room. Some people prefer to filter their water through a Berkey filter before drinking, but if the spring is pure, it’s not necessary. We drink our spring water completely unfiltered.

How long the water stays good for depends on how cold a temperature it’s stored at. Spring water is best fresh. We personally do not prefer to drink spring water past 2 weeks old. However, we know other people that will drink it at a month old. It’s great to get in a rhythm where you know how long the water lasts you and put your collection day on the calendar in advance.

I believe that water is calling us to reconnect with her in the deepest way, to gather our own water. Just like our ancestors did. Our ancestors didn’t have fancy water machines. They also didn’t create villages or settle where there was no water. Water was revered as the center of the community and the nodal point around which life could spiral out and take root.

Here’s to restoring the sacred connection with the waters of life.

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